Method of ornamenting shoes



ay 31, 1938. H. 5 LYESS Zlsgg METHOD oF ORNAMENTING sHoEs Filed Nov. 1s. 1935 2 sheets-sheet 1 '31, 1938. H. s. LYNEss METHOD OF ORNAMENTING SHOES 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed NOV. l5, 1935 Patented May 31, 1938 PATENT orrlcE METHOD' OF OENAMENTING SHOES Horatio S. Lyness, Lynn, Mass.,

assignor to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Paterson, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Application November 13, 1935, Serial No. 49,523

4 Claims.

This invention relates to a method of ornamenting shoes and is herein illustrated in connection with the formation of ornamental cutouts in shoe uppers. Apparatus for carrying out the method constitutes the subject-matter of a divisional application, Serial No. 137,088, led April l5, 1937.

In the manufacture of shoes, particularly womens shoes, it is common practice to form ornamental cut-outs or openings to constitute a design in the shoe uppers. One Way of producing such designs, as heretofore practiced, has been to form the cut-out designs in flat blanks of upper material and lining Which are later incorporated in the shoe uppers. However, difficulties have been experienced in this connection due to the fact that in lasting the shoes the material adjacent to the cut-outs will stretch resulting in distortion of the cut-out designs and rendering it more difficult to shape the uppers of the shoes perfectly to the last. Another method of producing cut-out designs has been to form cut-outs in an upper blank, to secure a lining to the blank, to assemble the shoe and substantially complete it, and then to form the cut-outs in the lining by means of a trimming machine. In this operation, however, considerable skill upon the part of the operator may be required in order to obtain satisfactory results because of the difficulty of operating the trimming knife to form small portions of the designs such as sharp corners.

In View of the foregoing, it is an object of the invention to provide an improved method by which ornamental cut-outs can be produced in shoes economically and in a satisfactory manner. To this end and as illustrated, the invention provides a method of ornamenting shoes which consists in severing the material of an upper blank to form a cut-out except for small bridging portions of the lining, or of all the layers of the upper, which connect the main body of the upper blank and the material to be removed, incorporating the blank in a shoe and thereafter, either before or after the last is pulled from the shoe, severing said bridging portions to complete the cut-out. This method is advantageous in that the greater portion of the cut-out design can readily be formed in an upper blank as distinguished from a shoe and, because of the bridging portions remaining, the upper can be lasted without distorting the design. It is to be noted further that the operation of severing the bridging portions can easily be done by hand and at any time afterthe shoe has been lasted.

`blank in a shoe.

The invention in these and other aspects will be apparent from the following detailed description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings and will be set forth in the claims. f5

In the drawings,-

Fig. 1 is a perspective View illustrating the manner in which the cut-out operation is completed upon the assembled shoe;

Fig. 2 is a top View of an upper blank with out- '10 outs partially formed therein;

Fig. 3 is a View showing the reverse side of the blank of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a View of a part of an upper blank which has been operated upon partially to form if;

a cut-out in both the lining and upper;

Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional View of a portion of a press illustrating the operation of a die upon a blank in carrying out the method;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of one form of die 20y suitable for carrying out the method;

Fig. '7 is a cross-section of a portion of the die taken along the line VII-VII of Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 is an enlarged sectional View of the die illustrating the manner in which the die operates 25 upon an upper blank;

Fig. 9 is a perspective View of a die press arranged for performing the cut-out operation; and

Fig. 10 is a perspective View illustrating a modied forni of die for performing the operation 30 illustrated in Fig. 4.

My novel method is especially adapted to produce ornamental cut-out designs in shoes such as the shoe lli illustrated by way of example in Fig. l. per l2 having at the base of its strap i4 an ornamental design which is composed of stitching I6 and cut-outs i8 and Ztl (shown only partially completed) located within the lines of stitching. In accordance with the method of the invention 40 such cut-outs are preferably formed by partially severing the material of an upper blank such as the blank 22 oi Fig. r2 prior to assembling the As shown in Fig. 2 such a blank may comprise an outer member or layer 2i and 45 a lining 25 composed of leather or fabric and secured together by adhesive or by stitching. In performing the cut-out operation it has been found practicable completely to cut away the material of the outer member 22 to form cut-outs 50 as indicated by the reference character 28 while at the same time to sever the material of the lining along the lines of the design to be formed as indicated by reference character 33, Fig. 3,

except for bridging portions 32 of the lining ma- 55I As shown, the shoe I@ comprises an up- 3'5 terial which are left intact. The bridging portions 32 serve to prevent distortion of the blank when it is assembled in the shoe and to this end are preferably so located that they Will be oppositely disposed and will extend along the lines of greatest stretch of the upper during the lasting operation. The bridging portions 32 are made of suiiicient width adequately to prevent such distortion but can usually be so located as to be positioned along straight or only slightly curved portions of the cut-out design. The purpose of this is to make it possible initially to sever the material at the most difcult portions of the design so that the later operation of finishing the cut-out will be reduced to a minimum and will ordinarily involve making two simple cuts with a knife. After the cut-outs are partially formed the blank is assembled in the shoe and, if desired, other operations toward completing the shoe can be performed. The final operation of completing the cut-outs is illustrated in Fig. l and consists merely 1n running a knife (33) by hand across such bridging portions completely to sever the material to be removed utilizing the last (34) a a cutting block.

It is to be noted that by performing the cutout operation completely on the outer portion of the blank, for example by means of a die, there is less likelihood of disturbing the design or leaving a noticeable ragged edge which would be more likely to occur if it were necessary to perform a hand operation upon the exposed outer layer. However, it is within the scope of the invention to perform the cut-out operation only p-artially upon both the outer layer and the lining, as shown in Fig. 4. In this instance the material of anupper blank 36 comprising an outer member 38 and a lining 48 is severed through both the outer member and lining along portions 42 of the cut-out, leaving bridging portions 44. After the upper blank 36 is assembled in the shoe the bridging portions of both lining and outer member can be cut by means of a knife at any time to form the completed cut-outs.

In carrying out my novel method I prefer to make use of a die such as die 45 illustrated in Figs. 5, 6 and 7. As shown, the die 45 comprises a base 46 and one or more cutting blades 48 mounted upon the base. Each of the cutting blades comprises a vertical wall 5D formed about an opening 5l in the base 46, and Which corresponds in shape to the outline of a cut-out to be produced in a blank. The Outer side of the Wall is beveled, as indicated by reference character 52, Fig. '7, and terminates in cutting edges 54 which lie in a plane. 'Ihe wall 50 is recessed to form oppositely disposed notches 56 and the wall at the bases of the notches is beveled to form auxiliary cutting edges 58 spaced from the plane of the edges 54. The width of the notches 56 corresponds to the width of the bridging portions to be formed in the blanks, for example such as the bridging portions 44 in the upper blank 22, Fig, 3. 'Ihe manner in which such bridging-portions are formed is illustrated on an enlarged scale in Fig. 8 in which the position of the die 45 is shown after a cutting operation upon an upper blank comprising an outer layer 60 and a lining 62. As shown the cutting edges 54 have penetrated completely through the outer layer 60 and the lining 62 and the cutting edges 58 have likewise penetrated through the outer layer 60 but have only partially entered the lining 62 with the result that a section of material 64 has been completely severed from the outer layer 6I] and a section 66 has been severed from the lining 62 except for bridging portions 68.

As shown in Figs. 5 and 9 the die is preferably mounted for operation in a press comprising a 0- shaped frame 10, a reciprocating plunger 12 and a cutting bed 14. The die plate 46 is secured by screws 16 to a holder 'I8 carried at the lower end of the plunger and the cutting bed is provided with a plate 88 of comparatively soft metal such as brass with which the cutting edges of the die cooperate.

The die is provided with means for stripping from the die material cut from blanks, such means comprising a plunger 82 slidably mounted in the holder 18 and having pins 84 located within the individual blades 48 and having stripper buttons 85, there being a spring 86 normally operative to force the pins in a downward direction.

In order to provide for the accurate locating of the cut-outs in a blank there are provided two gages 88 mounted upon the cutting bed 14 and adjustably secured in position thereon by means of screws 96 extending through slots 92 in the gages. The gages 88 are arranged to engage opposite edges of an upper blank such as a blank 94 to l0- cate it in position in proper alinement with the cutting edges of the die.

In order to perform the operation illustrated in Fig, 4, that is, partially to sever both the outer layer and lining of a blank leaving bridging portions in both members, I have provided a modified form of die which, as illustrated in Fig. 10, comprises a cutting blade 96 terminating in cutting edges 98 and having notches |00 in the blade, the construction being similar to that of the die illustrated in Figs. 6 and 7, except that the blade at the bases of the notches is not sharpened and the distance from the bases of the notches to the plane of the edges 98 is sufficiently great so that the bases of the notches will not engage the material of the blank as the edges 98 pass through it, thus leaving bridging portions of the entire thickness of the blank connecting the body portion of the blank With the material to be removed. Dies thus constructed are particularly adapted for use with materials which are flimsy or which are more likely to stretch during the lasting operation with the consequent result that stronger bridging portions are needed.

It is believed that the operation of the dies above described in forming cut-outs in shoes in accordance with my novel method will be apparent from the foregoing description. In summary, however, an upper blank, Figs. 5, 8 and 9, is located upon the cutting bed 14 of the machine with the portion of the blank to be operated upon positioned by gages 88 in alinement with the cutting blades 48 of the die 45. Upon depression of the plunger 'l2 the main cutting edges 54 of the die in coopera-tion with the auxiliary cutting edges 5B operate completely to form a cutout in the outer member of the blank and the edges 54 partially sever the lining to form a cutout therein except for bridging portions 68. The upper blank is then assembled in a shoe upon a last and other operations toward completing the shoe can be performed if desired. Subsequently, the bridging portions are severed by a knife and the remaining pieces of the lining are removed, thereby completing the cut-out design.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters'Patent of the United States is:

. 1. A method of making shoes which consists in providing an upper' blank, cutting through the blank completely to form a cut-out therein except for narrow bridging portions connecting the body portion of the blank with material to be removed therefrom, incorporating the blank in a shoe, and completing the cut-out by severing said bridging portions.

2. A method of making shoes which consists in providing an upper blank comprising an outer layer of sheet material and a lining, cutting through the upper blank completely to form a cut-out therein except for narrow bridging portions connecting the body portion of one or both of the layers With the material to be removed therefrom, incorporating the upper blank in a shoe, and completing the cut-out by severing the bridging portions of the lining.

3. That method of making shoes which consists in assembling blanks to be used as portions of an upper and a lining, partially forming an ornamental cut-out therein by cutting completely through the upper and partly through the lining, assembling the upper and lining in a shoe upon a last, and completing the cut-out by severing the remaining uncut portions of the lining.

4. A method of making shoes which comprises operating upon assembled portions of an upper and a lining to form an ornamental cut-out in the upper and to form a similar cut-out in the lining except for bridging portions of material left intact, incorporating the upper and lining in a shoe, and completing the formation of the cut-out in the lining by severing the said bridging portions.

HORATIO S. LYNESS. 

